9-11 report, soon to be released, will be 'explosive'

If Bush thought things were running amiss, he may be in for an even bumpier ride.

A long-awaited final report on the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks will be released in the next two weeks, containing new information about U.S. government mistakes and Saudi financing of terrorists.

Former Rep. Tim Roemer, who served on the House Intelligence Committee and who has read the report, said it will be ''highly explosive'' when it becomes public.

We won't know what's so explosive about it until we actually get it, but it's getting lots of buzz.

In addition to the obvious "Saudis were in bed with the terrorists" narrative that is a secret to no one, there's this potential bombshell:

The report will show that top Bush administration officials were warned in the summer of 2001 that the al Qaeda terrorist network had plans to hijack aircraft and launch a "spectacular attack."

Uh oh. If true, compounded with the whole WMD mess, this could paint the administration is a bunch of LIARS and INCOMPETENTS -- both leading to the deaths of thousands.

I say "if true" because people are going to play the expectations game. In this case, the administration has an interest in really hyping the report, leaking suggestions that it will be, well, "explosive". That way the actual report can't live up to the expectations and the press will think, "oh, it's really not that bad".

We'll see.

Posted July 10, 2003 12:05 PM